Growing Up with Ms Valentine
by Songbird341
Summary: Sweet and funny stories of Cat and Robbie's childhoods, growing up together. Cabbie!
1. Welcome To Preschool

The Day Cat and I Met

**DISCLAIMER: I'm a girl. Dan Schneider is a boy. You do the math.**

_Cat and I have always been great friends. I hope we always will be. But, how did it all begin? Well, it started on the first day of preschool. I remember it like it was yesterday..._

"Robbie, welcome to Preschool!" The lady guided me into a big classroom. It had walls that looked like the sky, with airplanes and clouds on the walls on the left side, and the moon and stars on the right side. All around were kids my age, playing with play-dough, and building-blocks, and crayons. I ran to the Morning side as fast as my skinny legs could take me. I saw a girl with very red hair playing with the building blocks in the corner, and decided to join her.

"Hi." I smiled and sat down next to her. She turned toward me. My mouth flew open. She was pretty! She had long, pretty hair in a pony tail with a little bow. Her eyes were big and brown, and she had on a little pink dress with a red bow. She definitely didn't have cooties! I smoothed down my khaki shorts.

"Hi! I'm Cat!" She smiled at me. I smiled back.

"Like the aminul?" I asked.

She jumped up. "What's THAT supposed to mean?" She asked, sounding hurt. _What did I say?_

"I wasn't being mean. I meant, like the Hello-Kitten?" I tried again.

"I love Hello-Kitten!" She sat back down again. "Wanna make a castle?" She picked up a block and started building.

"Okay!" I picked up a block too. She reached over with her tiny hand to get a pink block for the entrance.

"Who lives in our castle? Pirates?" I asked. "I love pirates! Arrgh!" Cat giggled at my pirate impression.

"No, silly! Princesses and knights do!" Cat smiled and picked up a princess doll.

"Aw... Can pirates live in the castle, too?" I asked. I tugged at my sweater vest.

"Hmm... Okay! But they have to be nice pirates!" Cat nodded.

We had barely finished the castle when Cat had an idea. "What if, okay, a dragon attacked the castle! And the pirates have to save the princess!" Cat poked my shoulder.

I looked around at all the dolls and pieces we had. "But we don't have a dragon."

Cat turned around, opened her bag, and pulled out a stuffed giraffe. "Will this work? It's a Giffaffe!" She mispronounced.

I almost started to correct her, but I didn't. I just nodded and grabbed my pirate. "Arr, ye scurvy dragon! Walk the plank, ye landlubber!" I spoke out of the side of my mouth, so she wouldn't know I was talking for the pirate. It was a trick I taught myself a while ago.

"Wow... How do you do that?" Cat asked. She cleared her throat. "Please! Save me, pirate! The dragon is going to eat me!"

I moved my pirate between her princess and the 'Dragon'. "You leave her alone! Or I'll throw ye overboard!" I said in a deep voice. Well, as deep as a 4-year old could manage.

We played on like that until snack break. We ran to the snack tables and grabbed our lunch boxes.

"What's in yours?" Cat asked me. She opened her princess lunchbox and peeked at the contents.

"I have a sammich, a juicebox and petzels. What do you have?" I asked.

"Choc-it milk and gushers!" Cat squealed happily. "Want some?" She held out a handful of gushers. I took one happily and offered her a pretzel, which she took.

We ate our snacks, and threw our trash away. Cat looked at me and smiled. "Let's be best friends!" She smiled.

I was confused. "Aren't girls only best friends with girls?" I asked. I smiled at her chocolate mustache.

"No, silly! Hey! Let's be secret spies!" Cat grabbed his arm and ran to the corner of the Night side. She grabbed some walkie-talkies and sent me across the room. _She has a lot of crazy ideas. How do you play secret spies?_

"Double-O-Robbie! Come in! Do you copy?" Cat's voice boomed out of the walkie-talkie.

"What's that mean?" I asked. I had never been a secret agent before.

"I don't know. My daddy watches a secret spy show, and they say stuff like that! So, who should we spy on?" Cat whispered. She looked around, saw Robbie, and waved. He waved back.

"How about that girl in the other Night corner." I pointed.

"The girl with the skissors?" Cat mispronounced again.

"Yeah! So, how do we spy?" I asked again. _I should really watch more TV._

"We watch her, and talk to each other, and write stuff down!" Cat informed him.

"... Or we could go talk to her." I thought that would be easier.

"Okay!" Cat giggled and ran over to me. We walked over to the girl with "skissors", as Cat would say.

Cat poked me, so I stepped forward. "Hi. I'm Robbie, and this is Cat!" I said nervously.

"Why are you here?" She asked, not even turning to us.

"We want to be your friends!" Cat smiled.

"Well I don't want to be yours!" She crossed her arms. Cat ignored her and sat down next to her. I did too, because if Cat wanted to be friends to this girl, so did I. _That's what best friends do, right?_

This girl looked scary. She had dark brown hair down to her elbows, a black shirt with a skull on it, and blue eyes that looked angry.

"What's your name?" Cat asked innocently. The girl never looked up from the paper she was cutting.

"Jadelyn." She grumbled.

"Ooh, pretty!" Cat smiled. "Can I call you Jade?"

"I guess." She said under her breath. She finally looked up. "Now, go away." Cat ignored her.

"What are you doing?" She asked. I looked at her with a scared expression.

"Cutting stuff." She said. Cat picked up some scissors and some black paper, like Jade, and started cutting. "What are you doing?" Jade asked curiously.

"I'm making paper dolls!" Cat smiled. She got some glue and googly eyes, and stuck them on her paper dolls. Jade looked at them, took out a white marker, and drew some fangs on each of them.

"Pretty!" Cat giggled. I just nodded slowly.

Jade looked up at her. "You know what? You're alright." She stood up, looking at my with disgust, as though I was a bug she hadn't noticed before. _I hope she doesn't step on me, _I shivered. "My mom's here," She grumbled and walked to the door. My mom was there too, so Cat and I followed Jade and found our moms.

We stood with our moms, who were talking to each other. I waved, and she waved back. _I have a best friend. That's a girl._ And suddenly, I couldn't wait for tomorrow.

**So, this isn't my best. It's basically just a start. The next chapter will skip ahead 2 years. Please review!**


	2. Our Secret Spot

The Day Cat and I Shared a Secret

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Victorious. Not yet...**

_Me and Cat were best friends since that day. We'd spent two whole years growing up together, until one day, I woke to a pleasant surprise. The house for sale next door had just been sold to none other than Cat Valentine. Having nothing to do on Saturday, with my parents fighting, I decided to ask to come over._

. . . . .

My mom dialed the phone, handed it to me and resumed screaming at my dad. I put it up to my ear and heard the ringing, until someone picked up. _"Hello, Valentine's residence."_

I suddenly got very nervous. "Um, hi, um, I'm Robbie, and um, I want to, um-" My 6-year old voice trembled.

"_Oh! You're Cat's friend, aren't you? Well, I'll go get her for you!"_ The woman said cheerily. I heard a faint call for Caterina. Suddenly, the phone was picked up again.

"_Hello?"_ There was Cat's voice. I heard clatters and shouts and all the sounds of moving in to a new house.

"Hi Cat! I was wondering if I could come over?" I asked. I twirled the cord around my finger nervously.

"_Who is this?"_ Cat asked innocently. _Silly Cat..._

"It's Robbie." I said.

"_Oh, hi Robbie!"_ She giggled. _"What do you need?"_ I heard a thump and a loud shout. _"My thumb!" _I winced at the sound.

"I wanted to come over," I repeated. She mumbled something and dropped the phone. I heard thudding of shoes on the floor, a high-pitched voice squeal, and more thudding, until the phone was picked back up. _"She said yes!"_

"Okay! I'll be there soon! What should I bring?" I asked.

"_Anything!" _Cat giggled and hung up. I ran to my room, grabbed all my favorite toys, and ran outside to Cat's new backyard.

. . . . .

"Hey, Robbie!" Cat waved. "What did you bring?" I ran over to her backyard, where she was sitting in the grass. She wore a denim jumper over a baby-pink striped t-shirt. I sat down next to her, dropped my unzipped backpack, and pulled toys out of it. I had action figures, superhero capes, and some legos.

"Hey, let's go explore!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the woods behind her house. I was never a fan of the woods, but followed her anyway, her tiny hand gripping his tightly.

She led me through trees and leaves, over creeks and rivers, getting our shoes wet. I gazed up at all the tall trees. Suddenly, we heard a twig crack.

"W-what was that?" I asked. My hands started shaking.

"I-I don't know! What if it was..." She lowered her voice. "A bear..." Cat took my hand.

I almost fell over running. We ran through twisted tree branches, muddy puddles, the sun beating down on our backs. I was sweating and panting when we finally stopped. "Wow!" Cat had suddenly forgotten about the "bear". She was staring up at a huge tree, taller than even Cat's huge house.

"Look at that!" She pointed. "I bet you could see the whole world from up there!"

I nodded weakly. "Uh-huh..." My voice squeaked. _And you could fall to your death from there..._

"Let's climb it!" Cat exclaimed.

My eyes grew in my head. Me? Skinny Robbie Shapiro? "I don't know, Cat..."

"I'm a great climber, and you'll do fine!" Cat tugged his hand. "Come on!" The tree was slanted enough that you could walk up it, until you reached the big, thick branches. Cat proceeded upward, as I reluctantly followed. I was afraid of heights, but I wouldn't have said so. _Because boys weren't supposed to be afraid of anything!_

Soon we had reached the branches. Without hesitating, Cat climbed onto a thick branch, then the next, then the next, as I trailed behind, trying not to look down. She reached the highest point, and sat on it. "Woah..." Cat sighed. I sat next to her, and gasped. It was amazing! We were so high up, we could see the roofs of houses everywhere, including the roof of the Kindergarten we just graduated from. Cat and I looked at each other and smiled. We knew this would be our place, our special hideaway.

"Never tell anyone about this place!" Cat whispered.

"I promise!" I nodded my head vigorously.

"I need a pinky-promise!" We linked pinkies.

"I promise!" I said. Cat promised as well, and we looked out at the world. Our world to explore...

**Thanks everyone for reading! Thanks for reviewing: Sweetstarre123, Tiarashine, Robandie Forevs, and Converse Yazzie. Please Review! I'll update the next chapter when I get 4 reviews.**

**Next chapter: The Day Cat and I Went to the Beach**


	3. Fun At The Beach

The Day Cat and I Went to the Beach

**DISCLAIMER: Wanna know a secret? I don't own Victorious!**

_Cat and I were very good friends at that point. We had 3 weeks before we went into Elementary School. We wanted to go to the beach for our last days being Kindergarteners. Cat's parents couldn't take her for some reason, but they allowed her to go with us. So, my Mom and older sister Raquel took us._

"I'm so excited!" Cat exclaimed as she packed her favorite toys into her small Hello Kitten suitcase. I was helping her pack before we would leave tomorrow. We were in her room, which was so cool! _For a girl, I mean. _It was this cool room, with huge window-walls, like a greenhouse, but not as hot. She and I loved to play with the giant blinds, but her mom (who she called Jeanie, even though I usually call my mom "Mommy") said not to. It had a huge bed with a canopy, and big soft covers, with a pink desk next to it. Across the room, a big fish tank with tons of tiny fish in it, stood taller than both of us. She had a small stool she would move up to it to see the fish swim about. She had a huge wardrobe, that we'd tried to find Narnia in more than once. And next to the door was a giant toy box, full of the coolest collection of toys I'd ever seen! **(A/N If you want to understand Cat's background and family better, and why she calls her mom "Jeanie", then read my story, "Just Keep Running.")**

She reached into her toy box for her Bambi Doll. "We're gonna build sandcastles, and play in the ocean, and I get to wear my new swim suit! It's pink and it has hearts and..." Cat rambled on as she reached for her doll in the bottom of the box. Her still-relatively small and chunky body couldn't stretch itself over the edge of the box. "Robbie! Will you help me reach Princess SparkleQueen?" She asked, her head in the toy box.

I walked up behind her. "Push me over!" She squealed. I edged Cat's stocky frame over the edge of the box, trying to catch her before she hit her head. My skinny arms strained to hold her up. "Hurry, Cat!" I moaned, my arms aching. I wasn't very strong.

"I got her!" Cat giggled. I pulled her up slowly. "Wee!" Cat smiled.

"Packing is hard..." I panted. Cat was flying "Princess SparkleQueen" around the room like a superhero. Our latest fascination was superheroes. "Woosh!" She exclaimed.

"Woosh!" I smiled. "Now that we're both packed, wanna play a little before we leave?" I asked. Cat stopped 'Woosh'ing on her bed and turned to me. But Princess SparkleQueen didn't. She flew out of her hand, sailing out of the room.

"No! Princess SparkleQueen!" She jumped off the bed (She was very agile, surprisingly) and out the door. Suddenly, I heard a scream.

I ran into the hall and found Cat squealing at her Schnauzer puppy, Rex, who had Princess SparkleQueen in his slobbery jaws. "No, Rex, no!" Cat cried. I ran up to her.

"Oh no, Cat!" I wanted to grab the dog, and wrestle the wet, probably deceased, doll from his mouth. But I was scared. So I did the next most courageous thing. I found Cat's mom.

"Mrs. Valentine, Cat's doll, Princess SparkleQueen, is being mauled (a cool vocabulary word my sister taught me) by Rex!" I informed her. She looked uninterested at first, but sighed and walked to the hallway. Rex was gnawing happily at the shredded remains of Princess SparkleQueen. Cat sat on her knees, her face in her hands, sobbing.

She looked up at her mother. "She's dead! I heard her crying!" She sniffed. Her mother rolled her eyes. _That's not nice!_ I felt bad for Cat. I sat down by her side.

"I'm sorry, Kitty." I frowned. Before I could say anything else, I was utterly shocked. Cat reached out and hugged me tight. I sat there and hugged her back. _I like having a girl best friend! _I thought for the 300th time since we met. _She smells pretty, and everybody thinks it's cool we're friends._ After a few minutes sitting there, my mom came inside and guided us to the car.

. . . . .

Cat was sad for a while after that. My sister Raquel was sitting in the car when we stepped in with our suitcases. We sat in the back seat in our car seats. Cat's of course, was Hello Kitten. Mine was Arachniman. Raquel instantly starting whining to Mommy.

"I'm old enough to drive!" She protested.

"You are not driving these kids anywhere, Raquel! And that's final!" Mommy said firmly. Raquel slumped in the passenger seat, crossing her arms and letting out enough air to supply another planet. She turned around in her seat and looked at us. "What are you doing?"

I looked up at her. Cat and I had been holding our arms out in front of us, "Whoosh"ing like we were flying. "We're being superheroes!" Cat giggled. Raquel raised her eyebrow.

"Speaking of which, there was a hero in the paper!" Mommy had captivated our attention. We wiggled in our tight seat belts, trying to see the newspaper she was holding up. We couldn't read, but we looked for pictures.

"There's no superhero!" Cat complained. _She's a better reader than I am._

"Yes there is!" Mommy pulled it up in front of her. "A girl saved a cat from a burning building!"

Raquel laughed. "That's no superhero."

"Well, what makes a hero? Is it his bravery? His good deeds?" My mother asked.

Raquel shook her head. "No. His tights." This got a chuckle from her mother.

"Raquel, you put the craziest ideas in these kids' heads!" She smiled. She turned the key, and started the car, pulling out of the driveway. "Kitty-Cat, why the sad face?" She asked, sporting a concerned expression. Cat look down, putting her hair behind her ear.

"Well, I had a dolly, who's name was Princess SparkleQueen, and I have a dog, named Rex, and he likes to chew things, and he decided to chew her, so he did, and, and, and she's dead now! And I miss her, and I'm so mad at Rex!" She frowned and looked down.

"I'm sorry, Cat. Hey," Mommy looked at me in the rear-view mirror. "Didn't you name your – er – friend, Rex?" She fumbled over her words. I nodded, remembering my "friend," or puppet, if you may.

One day, Cat and I were playing pretend, and Cat said we should play Mommy and Daddy. But we had a problem: we had no baby. So, I bought a puppet, and we played with him. We didn't know what to name him, so we named him after her puppy, Rex. But that was our little secret.

Ten minutes later, Cat needed a potty break, so we stopped at a gas station, and waited outside. When Mom and Cat popped out of the door, we immediately started back on the road. Eventually, after watching Cat's favorite movie, _Monsters, Inc._, two times, we were at the beach. Venice Beach. Cat and Raquel changed into their bathing suits, and Raquel waited outside the boy's bathroom until I was ready. Cat was in a pink, polka-dotted bikini. I had never seen a girl in a bikini; all the girls I knew wore onesies. Cat looked pretty. I was in my Arachniman swimming trunks, and Raquel was in a bikini, too. Hers was black, like her hair. And everything else about her. _Except for her eyes. They're big and green, like a cat._

We ran to the beach. Mommy picked us out a spot to lay our beach towels, and watched as Raquel went out in the water with us. We squealed and we splashed, dancing in the shallow water. When we'd had enough for now, Cat suggested we build a sandcastle. "What should we call it?" She asked.

I wanted to name it "Robbie's Wondercastle" but, I decided to be a gentleman. "How about Cat's Castle?" I asked. She smiled and clapped.

We had finished patting the damp sand into a magnificent castle, but there was something missing. "Seashells! Let's go collect some!" Cat grabbed my sandy arm in one of her tiny hands, and her bucket in another. We walked up and down the beach, collecting the coolest seashells. Once we had more than our buckets could carry, we ran back to our castle. Cat was spilling her seashells as she ran, so I picked them up for her. We decorated our sandcastle, when I found a big stick. I told Cat to follow me, and found her a big stick too. We took our sticks and drew pictures in the sand.

When we were done, we were really sandy, so Mommy told us to go in the water and wash off. We ran back to the water, and went a little deeper this time. Raquel was "tanning" and wasn't watching us, so we went out a little deeper than we were supposed to. We were up to our shoulders, splashing and doggy-paddling ourselves in circles, when we saw something. A big lump rose in the water, growing higher and higher until it was way above our heads. It came closer and closer. We tried to run from it, but our small legs weren't pushing us through the water. Cat's were so short, she could barely propel herself a few feet before getting tired.

The wave got closer, and taller, creeping up on us like a monster. _Where's Arachniman when you need him? _I ran as fast as I could, until I realized Cat wasn't next to me. She was still stuck far behind, her legs too tired to move any further. I ran back to her, and started pulling her behind me, pushing us through with my lanky legs. The wave was closer and closer, until it was right behind us, only feet away, when something happened. The top started breaking into white bubbly water, and it crashed right into us, sending us both tumbling on the ocean floor. I rolled, small cuts forming on my body, over all the seashells in the sand under the water. My eyes were open, and they stung terribly.

_Cat! Where is she?_ I opened my eyes again, still stinging, and saw a big blue world around me, moving slow. _Am I dead?_ I crawled on the ocean floor, until I was where I could stand. I stood up, eyes almost on fire, and screamed "CAT! ARE YOU OKAY?"

**Cat's PoV**

_Oww, ow ow!_ The big wave had crashed into me and Robbie, rolling us into the deep water. My arms were all cut up, little scrapes and scratches decorating my delicate skin. My eyes burned, and I didn't move for a second, just looked around in the water. Instantly, I felt a sharp pang in my leg. The stinging sensation was swelling in it before I could react. I tried to lift my head to look at it, but my short neck hurt too badly, so I just lay there. All I could hear was the water around me, swaying back and forth, until I closed my eyes, and everything faded away.

**Robbie's PoV**

I pushed myself through the water that was up to my ears, searching for my best friend "CAT! ARE YOU OKAY?" I looked out at the beach, but I could barely see Raquel. Suddenly, I saw something bright red in the corner of my eye. It was Cat's hair! I waded up to her, trying to get a clear view before another wave came. She was laying there... _sleeping?_ Not a good time to take a nap, Cat!

I grabbed her small hand and heaved her small body into my skinny arms. I noticed a few bruises and scrapes on her limbs, and a bright red bump on her left leg. I slowly pushed through the water, a limp Cat in my arms, when I felt like going to sleep myself. But I didn't. I ran with all my might to the shore, when another wave came. I could see Raquel now, who was running into the water.

"ROBBIE! RUN INTO THE WAVE!" She screamed. _Why would I do that? _But I did run into the big lump, closing my eyes, and covering Cat's even though she was still asleep. It went through us, as though we weren't there. _Why didn't it do that before?_

After it had crashed, I started running again. I met Raquel in the middle, and she looked at Cat, who was lying in my trembling arms. Without speaking, she grabbed Cat and pulled me by my hand. We were soon at the shore.

"MOM! CAT'S HURT!" Raquel screamed. Mommy looked up from her chair, and instantly ran to us. "What happened?" She asked, taking Cat and setting her on a beach towel.

I stuttered. "Well, this big wave came, and we were far in the water, and I know we shouldn't have been, but we were anyway, and it hit us and knocked us down, and now Cat's all covered in boo-boo's, and her leg has a big boo-boo, and she's asleep, and I don't know why, and-" Raquel put her hand up to silence me. Mom examined her leg.

"It's a sting! Maybe from a jellyfish." She called for a lifeguard, who did this thing called CPR. Cat woke up, spitting out water. She asked what happened, then cried out that her leg hurt. The lifeguard gave us some medicine to put on the sting, and told us we should probably take her home.

We got in the car and drove to a hotel. We checked in, pulling our suitcases, and went to our rooms. We laid Cat on the couch, and she and I watched Spongebob until dinnertime. We had chicken nuggets and Fruity Juicy, and some Gushers. We spent the rest of the night playing board games.

We stayed at the hotel for a few days, giving Cat some time to heal before we left. We spent one last day at the beach, under close watch. After that, we packed up and started home. Overall, it was fun, but I felt like I had to do one more thing. So, I asked Mommy to stop at Wall-to-Wall-Mart. Raquel took Cat to look at some skirts, while Mom and I picked out a present for her: A new doll. Her name was Boysenberry BabyCake. When Cat saw her, she loved her, and thanked me over and over again. We rode home playing with our new toys, and Cat was smiling the whole time.

It was the best trip to the beach ever!

Because I was with my _best friend._

**Much longer! Hope you liked it! Plus: If you like dramatic stories, please read my in-progress story, Just Keep Running! It really shows you a background of Cat and Jade, and you might notice a few little things I wrote in this story that coordinate with that story. Read and Review! Thanks a whole bunch :)**

**InfinityForever7: Ouch! A fried brain? Get better soon xD**

**Converse Yazzie: Ah yes, the fun of not having to change Cat's personality _at all!_**

**Robandie Forevs: I'm writing that right now :)**

**StrawberryAngel143: Ha! You could write this twice as well as I did! But thanks for reviewing :)**

**That's all for now! Also: Taking story ideas! Any ideas for crazy adventures on their first day in Elementary school?**


	4. Riding Dolphins

**The Day Cat and I Rode Dolphins**

_**Sorry for not updating in, like, forever! Serious writer's block, forgive me. This one is cute, in my opinion. But my opinion doesn't matter much to me. So read on!**_

_**P.S. Sorry for not making this their first day in Elementary School, but that will be the next chapter. I'm trying to break through this writer's block, so bear with me.**_

_****~Songbird341~****_

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Robbie or Cat. If I did, they would be a couple by now :)**

. . . . .

My eyelids flew open. "Today's the day!"

Indeed, today _was_ the day. _The day that Cat and I are going to the Marine Park! _

School was going to start in just _one week_, so Cat and I had been cramming as much fun as we could into the last days before _adulthood_. Cat loved animals, so she was so excited to get to go to the park. Apparently, she had never gone to the zoo before. _Poor Cat! I wonder why..._

I hopped out of bed in my footsie pajamas, and ran out of my rocket-themed bedroom, into the kitchen. I found Mommy making pancakes and bacon, and sleepy-looking Raquel sitting at the table, finishing her homework. I smiled when I remembered: _I'm gonna be getting homework soon._

"Mommy! We're going to the marine park with Cat today, remember?" I reminded her, remembering that Moms can be very forgetful sometimes. Like when Mommy forgot to set a timer on the taco-meat, and it burned. The oven was smoking, which was cool, because I got to be a firefighter and Stopped, Dropped and Rolled across the floor. But Raquel yelled at me for rolling around when the oven was smoking, which wasn't very fair, because that's what Mommy told me to do. _Oh well._

Mrs. Shapiro chuckled. "I remembered, Robbie. I'm not that old." She turned to me and gave me a kiss on my head. "Now, come get some breakfast. Raquel, one pancake or two?"

"Three." She muttered, not even looking up from her Math book. Mom looked at her, making a funny face.

"Did you grow another stomach, my hard-worker? Speaking of which, isn't that due in a week, sweetie?" She walked over to watch Raquel work on her problems.

Raquel covered her paper with her arms. "Yes, but I'm getting it done while I remember everything!" _Sisters must be forgetful, too._ "Now, don't watch me! You'll make me nervous!" She scowled. Mommy threw her hands up and walked back to the stove.

"Rob, here's your dino-pancake. And your bacon." She handed me my plate. "Now eat everything, young man! You can't go ride the dolphins on an empty stomach!" She ordered, smiling. _Whoa! We can ride the dolphins? I can't wait to tell Cat!_

I sat down at the table and dug into my small dinosaur-shaped pancake. "Mom? Why does Raquel get to start school before I do?" I wondered.

"Because she's older, Robbie." She answered, sitting at the table herself with her big plate. "Now, eat. Raquel, you're coming with us to the Marine park." Raquel began to protest, but she held her hand up. "I need your help keeping up with these kids."

"We're not _kids_!" I demanded. "We're about to be _adults_!"

Someone knocked at the door softly. "That's Cat." Mommy said. I jumped up and followed her to the door.

She pulled the door open, revealing a small redheaded girl. "Hi, Mrs. Shapiro! Hi Robbie!"

"Hi Cat!" I replied.

She gave me a weird look. "You're going to the Marine park in your pajamas? Can I do that too?" She asked Mommy, who shook her head.

"Go get dressed, Robbie!" She ordered.

"But-"

"_March_!" I did so.

. . . . .

Finally, dressed and ready to go, I stepped out of my bedroom and back to the kitchen. Cat was coloring at the kitchen table. I walked up to look at it, and saw that she colored her tiger purple. "You colored your tiger _purple_?"

She whipped her head around. "What's THAT supposed to mean?"

"I mean, that just doesn't happen in nature, is all." I fumbled over my words. She instantly smiled and started giggling.

"I know, I'm creative..." She tucked her hair behind her ear. Mommy walked up to the table.

"Let's go, kids."

"Adults!"

. . . . .

After a fun-filled car ride, we finally arrived at the Marine park.

"Alright, _adults_. First, we're gonna go see the sea turtles, the octopus, and the sharks!" Mommy informed us, paying for our tickets.

"Look! The _Mermaid Show_!" Cat pointed to a glittery poster, decorated with seashells. On it was a picture of a mermaid, sitting on a rock with dolphins jumping around her. "Can we go to that? Please?"

I really didn't want to, but if Cat did...

"Okay. We'll go to that after lunch." Mom decided. Raquel was following close behind us, texting her friends, like she had all day, when she wasn't doing homework or eating.

We all walked into the giant park, looking at all the concession stands and all the people. "Wow!" Cat exclaimed. Little kids with popcorn and peanuts, cotton candy and Icees. Parents staring sadly at their thin wallets. But what caught my eye, and Cat's, was a dolphin, jumping high into the air and falling into the water with a splash. And then I remembered: We were going to ride those! I turned to Cat to tell her, but Mommy was already making her way to the sea turtle tank.

Once we reached it, Cat was no longer aware of her surroundings. She just pressed her relatively-small nose against the glass and gazed at the turtles, swimming around slowly and, in my opinion, quite boringly. But I stood next to her, watching her fascinated expressions whenever a turtle moved. _She sure does love animals..._

After what seemed like an hour, but was really only 5 minutes, of watching Cat's brown eyes shift from turtle to turtle, Raquel had had enough and walked away. Mom grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back, ready to let Cat spend all the time she wanted. But Cat was standing in front of her, looking up into her eyes. "Can we go see the Mermaid Show now?" She asked, twisting left to right, her hands clasped together behind her back.

Mommy sighed. "Kitty, the show won't start for another hour. But we're gonna go see the octopus, now!" This brought a smile back to Cat's face. She took one last look at the sea turtles, and followed Mom and Raquel to the octopus tank.

As we walked, I looked at Cat. "You like turtles?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

She looked up and nodded. "But not _a lot_, though. I really love dolphins!" She sighed adoringly at the mention of dolphins. She did a little spin as she walked, then began skipping.

"You do? Well, guess what my Mommy said?" I prepared for her happy squeals to pierce the air. "She said we could _ride the dolphins_!"

The squeals did come, and they came louder than I had expected. But it was worth seeing her pretty smile, and getting a big hug from her. See, lately, I've been feeling different about Cat. A good way. Raquel calls it a crush, because I'm not old enough to love anyone, really. "Ooh, Robbie's crushing on Kitty Cat!" She had laughed. _I don't really want to crush Cat. That would hurt. But I do think she's pretty, and smells nice, and stuff..._

"We get to ride them! Wee!" She spun around again, her dress puffing out to her sides, like an umbrella. She kept spinning, until she got dizzy and started to fall. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to her feet.

"You gotta be careful, Cat!" I laughed. She regained balance, and we hurried to catch up to Mom and Raquel.

We finally reached the octopus tank. But before Cat saw it, she asked "What's a ocpatus?".

Once she caught sight of the eight-legged, probably squishy, animal, she screamed and ran away. After Mom caught her, she tried to introduce Cat to the animal, but failed, resulting in another scream. "Cat! He won't hurt you! He's a friendly octopus!" She tried to convince the redhead, to no avail. After 15 minutes of "Come see the octopus!" "No! I'm scared!", we finally decided to move on.

As we made our way to the shark tanks, I tried to explain that sharks weren't scary, just in case. But she wasn't listening. All she said was "Can we go to the Mermaid Show _now_?" replied to with a head shake, from Mom. Raquel continued to text.

"Oh my gosh! They're so cute!" Cat squeaked, running up to the tank and plastering her face against the glass. She giggled and tapped on the glass, cooing "Who's a cutie? You are! You are!"

Mommy and Raquel exchanged glances, then resumed staring at the eccentric Cat.

After 10 minutes of Cat's staring, we decided to go get food. I suggested hot dogs, and no one objected. So it was decided.

Cat ordered the mini-weenies with mustard only, as did I, only with ketchup. After we got our food and ate it, Mom left us with Raquel so she could take a look at Icee prices. Big mistake, on her part.

Cat glanced down at her HiHi Kitten wristwatch, and saw that it was almost time for: "The Mermaid Show! Robbie, let's go watch!" And before I could protest, she grabbed my arm and we were gone before Raquel could look up from her cell phone.

"Cat, where are we going?" I asked as we ran, she pulling me behind her.

"Silly! We're going to the dolphin tanks! We're gonna ride the dolphins!"

_Looks like little boys are forgetful, too. Oops, I mean little men._

. . . . .

After many futile attempts, I gave up trying to reason with her. No, we could not wait for Mommy. No, we could not do it tomorrow. No, Mommy would not mind, if she had truly given us permission. _Which, she did._ I reminded myself. _So no worries._

Cat took off her pink and brown-plaid knee socks, after removing her pink Mary Jane's, and wriggled on some water wings from Mom's duffel bag. I removed my Arachniman sandals, put on my water wings, and took off my glasses. I could see okay without them, anyway. Cat pulled me up to the "Faculty Only" gate, (Cat explained that Faculty meant permitted people, which we were.) and we slid into the water.

_It's a shame I have to get my clothes all wet,_ I realized, but the thought was one of the past when I saw a dolphin. It swam close to us, but turned and swam to Cat. Cat held out her hand, poised for petting. It squeaked at her, as it got closer and closer, until it was finally in reach. Cat stroked its head fearlessly, inching closer to it.

"Cat, are you _sure_ you know how to do this?" I asked nervously. She nodded, not even turning to me. She reached out to its dorsal fin and grabbed it, holding tight, and he instantly started pulling her around the pool, creating waves. She squealed in surprise, as the dolphin grew faster and faster, squeaking happily. He probably had had experience pulling people around, and Cat was certainly no great burden to the creature.

Cat laughed and shouted "Robbie! You try it!".

I started to shake my head, and turned around. But I recoiled at the sight of a dolphin, merely inches away from me. The dolphin swam closer to me, nudging my arm. I shivered at the touch of the cold animal. _It wants me to ride it?_ It seemed so.

I extended a trembling hand toward the animal, closing my eyes, reaching impact sooner than expected. _It must have gotten closer!_ I opened my eyes and slowly started petting it. "Nice dolphin. You like me, don't you? I like you too. Good dolphin, nice boy..." I slowly reached for its big shark-like fin, and grasped onto it. The dolphin didn't even flinch. Taking a leap of faith, I copied Cat's previous movements, and was suddenly being pulled around the pool. "Wow! Look Cat, I'm doing it!"

"I knew you could!" She called out over the sound of the rushing water.

We swam around each other in circles, doing little tricks. Cat was able to make the dolphin jump into the air, which was beyond my understanding. But then, a lot of what Cat did was beyond my understanding. She just does things, somehow.

But something changed all of that in an instant. The bars at the end of the pool were opened, and, as they had been trained, the dolphins swam through the opening, carrying us with them. And before we could react, we were met by hundreds of people in stands, watching what we realized was the Mermaid Show.

Sitting in a clam in the middle of the lake was a real _mermaid_! She had blue hair, with seashells strung in it, and she had a tail, which she flopped around, until she saw me and Cat. She stopped waving at everyone stared at us in awe. _Jealous?_

Cat rode up to me. "We're in the Mermaid Show, Robbie! Can you believe it?" She squealed, much like the dolphin. She waved a hand in front of my face, but I kept staring out at the stands. "Ro-bbie?"

I gulped and pointed up at the front of the audience. There stood Mommy and Raquel. Looking very shocked. And angry. _Uh oh..._

. . . . .

"Robbie Shapiro, I can not _believe_ you left us without asking, sneaked into Employees-Only ground, and for Pete's sake, _rode the dolphins_?" Mommy scolded me. I lowered my wet head, which Mom was trying furiously to towel-dry. Cat did the same, as Raquel dried hers, remarking how pretty the hair color was.

"I did it too, Mrs. Shapiro." She admitted, clasping her hands together.

Mom looked at her. "Well, I'll be having a talk with your mother, young lady!"

"But – But you told me that we were gonna swim with the dolphins!" I reminded her.

"..." Mom looked down at the ground. "I did, didn't I. I didn't really mean-"

"But we had fun!" Cat interjected. "And isn't that what it's all about?"

There was a silence. Cat chewed on her lip. Mom stopped drying my hair. Raquel finally quit talking. And I waited for something to happen. Which, something did.

"You know what, Cat? You're right. I'm sorry you guys misunderstood me. The main thing is, no one got hurt, and we're not in trouble, so neither are you. It's all water under the bridge, I guess." Mom decided.

Cat raised her hand. "What's that mean?"

"It means that it's in the past, so let's forget about it." Raquel explained. "But don't do that again. Got it?" She ordered. We both nodded.

"I didn't even remember telling you about the dolphins." Mom remarked as we walked out of the Marine park. I smiled.

"That's just because sometimes, Mom's are very forgetful."

. . . . .

_**Sorry if you didn't like it. I thought it was okay :)**_

_**Please review! I love all my reviewers so much, but I'm tired and don't feel like listing them all. So thanks EVERYONE! **_


	5. Elementary

_**Hey guys! As promised, I have returned, and am releasing the Elementary School chapter! Woo hoo!**_

_**Small thing: This will be sad/sweet, as Cat will meet a couple of bullies that will recur throughout this series, and Robbie is going to comfort her. Also, this chapter will be written in third person, because there will be situations in which Robbie is not included.**_

_**Still, I hope you enjoy it! Also taking requests for the next chapter, although I will be updating less often, maybe every week? I have 3 other stories I have to write, and as soon as I finish Getting Back, which will probably be about 8-9 chapters, I'll be able to update more often. **_

_**Thanks :)**_

_****~Songbird341~****_

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the television show Victorious or the characters affiliated with it. So there.**

**The Day Cat and I Started School**

"Here it goes."

"Yup."

"Are you scared, Robbie?"

"Are you?"

"Yes."

"Okay, yes. I'm scared."

The two 6-year old's looked at each other with anxiety in their eyes and butterflies in their stomachs. Curly-haired Robbie Shapiro's small eyes met red-headed Cat Valentine's large ones, and both pairs of eyes mirrored each other's excitement and uneasiness. Today was their first day of Elementary school.

Robbie had been visibly and audibly apprehensive about today, but his pig-tailed puffy-sleeved female friend hadn't shown the least bit troubled. Robbie wished he could have that kind of confidence, but with nothing to believe in but her blind faith, he reached out a hand, and when she took it, they pushed through the heavy doors and into their future.

"Look at this place!" Cat shrieked, squeezing Robbie's hand with her elfin one. She gazed around at the large hallways, brown eyes bulging, taking in the "sights" of an Elementary school hallway. Robbie looked around, but didn't take any notice of anything but their parents, a while in front of them, talking with someone he guessed was the teacher. He managed to pull Cat out of her wondrous state and to their family.

"... Here they come!" His mother announced, pulling Robbie away from Cat and in front of her, hands on his shoulders. "Lisa, this is my son, Robbie. Robbie, this is Mrs. Lillien." She introduced him to the tall woman with light brown hair that lay a little past her shoulders.

Mrs. Lillien reached down and shook Robbie's hand firmly. "Hello, Robbie!" She smiled calmly, tossing a tress over her shoulder. "I'm going to be your new teacher."

"Hi," he managed to sputter, wanting desperately to be reconnected with his best friend. Once he was released from under the woman's scrutiny, he turned to look at Cat. Mrs. Lillen noticed and followed his gaze, eyes resting on the little girl in a denim jumper, with a Hihi Kitten shirt underneath. The girl looked up at her and clung to her aunt's leg, smiling shyly at the woman.

"Hello," Mrs. Lillien approached her and reached a hand. Cat misunderstood and gave her a high-five, upon which the teacher laughed and smiled. "I'm guessing you're Caterina, our only red-headed child this year." She straightened up and looked at Cat's aunt. "You dye her hair?"

She nodded and sighed down at her niece. "It's what she wants. With everything she's been through, I'd do anything to see the child smile. Fortunately, she's got this little rugrat to keep her company." She gestured to Robbie, who turned scarlet.

Lisa frowned at the silent child, who skittered off to Robbie's side under the pressure of all the eyes on her.

"Well," The teacher nodded to them all politely. "It's a good thing you came when you did. The parental rush on the first day of school is always such a pain to get around. With the way some of the adults are around here, I'd prefer to just work with the children." She sighed, pulling a pen out of her jeans pocket and scribbling something onto a clipboard. "If you'd excuse me, I've got 20 6-year old children I have to check in, with parents that act as mature as they do. Bye now!" She smiled, walking away quickly, tugging at the edges of her black sweater.

Cat's aunt leaned down and whispered something to Cat, and she nodded. Robbie's mother did the same. "Robbie, I hope you have a good first day. Be good, don't fight with other kids, and stay close to Kitty, okay?"

"Okay, Momma."

"Good boy." She smiled, fixing his hair and kissing his cheek. "Bye, sweetheart!" She sang out as she walked down the hall, sneaking a few glances backward to make sure he was still there. He waved and turned to Cat, who was chewing her lip and fiddling with the pink bow in her hair.

"I guess we go in here," Robbie decided, taking Cat's hand again and waltzing up to the classroom door.

Cat stopped before entering and turned to Robbie. "You promise, we'll stay together?"

"Definitely."

They took a breath and pushed onward, into the classroom.

;*"*"*"*"*;

"Alright, kids!" Mrs. Lillien was suddenly in front of the room, standing over all the children playing with toys in the corner. "Stand up and find yourselves a desk. This will be your desk for the rest of the year, so pick wisely!"

All the children stood and found a desk. Cat had stuck to Robbie like glue that, playing with him only that morning. She had twisted her pigtails into two buns on the sides of her head, pretending to be Princess Leia, and Robbie took off his glasses to be Han Solo, although he could hardly see without them. They hadn't cared that they were playing a romantic couple, as long as they saved the galaxy, and Cat gave Robbie a thank-you kiss on the cheek, which he didn't mind at all. Now, she found a desk between Robbie and a brunette that they had met in Preschool, Jadelyn.

"First, we're going to get to know each other, so when I call your name, please walk up here and introduce yourselves." She waited for any response, then continued, clearing her throat. "We'll start off with Tara. Tara, would you come here?"

A blonde girl behind Cat stood and walked to the front. She turned and smiled at everyone nervously. "Tell them your name, what you like to do, and what your favorite subject is."

"I'm Tara Ganz, I like to shop with my mom and have her curl my hair," She gestured to her curly tresses. "And my favorite subject is lunch time."

"But Tara, lunch isn't-"

"I'm next!"

A brunette stood abruptly and stalked up to the front, pushing past Tara. "I'm Hayley Ferguson, I like being pretty and wearing make-up, and my favorite subject is music because I'm an amazing singer!" She flounced around in her pink skirt as she spoke, and the tiara that adorned her head had fallen in the process. She stuck out her lower lip and barked at Tara, who ran up to her and retrieved the tiara, placing it on Hayley's head.

Many interesting, and not-so-interesting children went by, until it was Cat's turn. She skipped to the front and turned to her "audience". "Hi! I'm Cat Valentine, but Cat as in Caterina, not the animal, because I'm not a cat, which is funny, because I love Hihi Kitten, and look, I'm wearing a Hihi Kitten shirt right now!" She said breathlessly. Hayley exchanged looks with Tara, and they simultaneously rolled their eyes. "And I love to pet kittens, and climb trees, and play with Robbie, and my favorite subject is music because I love to sing, too!"

Hayley laughed, and Tara mimicked her laugh almost perfectly. "I bet you're no good at singing, Kit!"

"That's not nice!" Cat cried. Mrs. Lillien placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her back to her seat. She then called Robbie.

He stumbled up to the front and ran a finger through his hair before beginning. "Hi, I-I'm Robbie, and I, ah, like puppets." Everyone laughed. "Yeah, ha, and I um, my favorite subject is, uh, well, art?"

"That's good, because today, we're going to start off with some art, so I'll pass out some coloring sheets and crayons." Mrs. Lillien took some sheets of paper and a box of crayons out of her desk drawer and started handing them to the children. "Pick your favorite colors, so you can draw someone a picture!"

She started handing out pages and colors to children down the first row, and finally reached Cat and Robbie in the second row. "Cat, what colors would you like?"

Cat examined the box of colors. "Well, I love all the colors, which is why I love rainbows, because they have all the colors! But if I have to pick my favorites, I'll pick Pink, and Red, and Purple. Ooh! And Yellow, and Green, and-" The redhead started to reach for crayons in the box.

"How about you just pick a few, Cat?" Mrs. Lillien chuckled at the girl's eagerness. "Red, Pink and Purple?" Cat nodded and giggled, accepting the colors that the teacher handed her, and the coloring sheet with a picture of a striped kitten on it.

She turned to Robbie and held out the box of crayons. "I want Red, Blue and Black, the colors of Arachniman!" She smiled and handed him the colors, and he gladly accepted the picture of a large-eyed puppy.

She turned to the girl on the other side of Cat. "Jadelyn, what colors would you like?"

"How many shades of black do you have?" The girl in the black sweater asked dully.

Mrs. Lillien blinked. "One, ah, just one. Would you like pink, or green?" She asked hopefully.

"Do you have any scissors?"

The teacher sighed and handed her a few bright crayons, along with a black one, and some Zany-Cut safety scissors. She found a picture of a penguin and handed it to her without asking if she wanted it.

Cat started to playfully shade in the kitten on her piece of paper, slightly sliding out of the lines from time to time, turning the animal bright red with pink ears and purple feet. She showed it to Robbie and looked at his drawing, which was a mess of blue and red. They exchanged smiles, but Cat's quickly faded as she turned and saw Jade, with a fully-black penguin drawing, cutting up the colorful crayons Mrs. Lillien had given her. She feared that her new friend would be caught by the teacher, and might be in trouble. (Fortunately, Mrs. Lillien didn't seem to noticed the pieces of crayon on the ground until after class).

"Alright, kids." Mrs. Lillien had been walking around, examining their artwork. "Would anybody like to show their pictures to the class?"

"I would!" Tara bounced up, but Hayley grabbed her shoulder and pushed her to her seat. She then proceeded to stand and smile at the teacher.

"May I?"

"Yes, Hayley."

She strutted to the front and pushed her artwork in everyone's faces. It was a picture of a princess, which she had given brown hair and big lips. "This is me, because I'm pretty and a princess because my daddy, who's rich, says so, and rich people are _always right!_" She turned her nose up to everyone and walked to her seat, leaving Mrs. Lillien speechless.

"I'll go next!" Cat squeaked, rising from her chair and walking to the front. "This is a kitten, but not Hihi Kitten, just a regular kitten. She's got stripes and brown eyes and-"

"It's awful!" Hayley snorted.

Tara laughed. "Really bad! You call that _art_?"

Suddenly, everyone started laughing with them, and the whole room was involved in the misery-making of Cat Valentine.

Jade looked around at everyone, the only one that wasn't laughing, and stood up. "Why don't you all just leave her alone. Your art was freaking awful. Hers was actually pretty good." Everyone fell silent, and she took her seat.

Cat walked back to the desk, counting to ten, taking deep breaths. _You can do this, Cat._

But something pushed her over the edge. She heard Tara whisper, "She's not _that_ bad of an artist, though."

Hayley smirked at her. "Yes, but she's ugly. And fat. So who cares?"

They obviously weren't trying too hard to be quiet, since everyone heard them. Cat stood quickly and ran out of the classroom, trying desperately not to let them see her cry. She ran down the hallway, toward the door, and paused before exiting. Her aunt had said to never go outside without parental supervision, and she didn't have super-vision, so she couldn't go. So she just sat at the door and cried.

;*"*"*"*"*;

"Cat?" Mrs. Lillien walked up to her, with Robbie. "Are you okay?"

The spent redhead looked up at her and frowned. "No! Those girls were so mean to me!" She crossed her arms. Robbie sat next to her, and the teacher crouched down.

"I know, and I'm going to talk to their parents. But can you please come back to class?"

She shook her head vigorously. "NO! I'm not going back in there!"

Robbie looked at Mrs. Lillien, and she whispered "Can you talk to her? I have to get back to class." He nodded and she walked away.

"Cat, you have to come back to class!" Robbie told her.

She looked at him sadly. "No, I don't! I just won't go to school!"

"But then you won't be smart!"

"What's THAT supposed to mean?"

Robbie reworded. "Nothing, it's just that you can't learn anything if you don't go to school. That's what my mom told me." He scooted closer to her and rested an arm around her neck, hugging her. "I don't want to go in there alone, Kitty! Can you please come with me?"

She met his eyes and slowly nodded. "Okay, I guess. Thanks, Robbie!" She instantly perked up, and leaned over to him, placing a kiss on his cheek. She stood and reached out a hand, which he took to stand up. As he walked up to the room, he was in total shock.

She had kissed him; and not as Princess Leia. As Cat.

;*"*"*"*"*;

_**So? Love? Hate? You gonna kill me in my sleep? Tell me in a review!**_

_**You're gonna see a lot more of Elementary school, but for now, I plan on moving on to something like a weekend thing. Maybe a camp-out? Maybe a playdate? What do you think?**_

_****~Songbird341~****_


	6. Little Red Lamb

_**Hey, hey, hey! Look who's back!**_

_**I apologize a thousand times over! I've been so busy with dance recitals, school exams, and theater that I've been unable to write! But now that I'm done with all that, I'm going to be updating much more often. So, um... Don't hate me.**_

_**Alright, well, no need to put it off any longer. Without further ado, the next chapter of this story: The Day Cat and I Won the Talent Show.**_

_****~Songbird341~****_

**DISCLAIMER: I've been gone a while. Not long enough to buy Victorious from Dan Schneider, though... Don't worry, I'm working on it ;)**

;*"*"*"*"*;

"Robbie, Cat's on the phone. Get up."

I squeezed my eyes open to meet the less-than-sunny face of my older sister, Raquel. Her face was wrinkled in a frustrated way, and her voice sounded all growly, like a bear. She seemed awful mad, so I just thanked my lucky stars that I wasn't the receiver of such anger.

I smiled sleepily at her. "Morning, Raquel."

She rolled her eyes and pulled the covers off the bed. "Whatever. Get up," she repeated, handing me the corded phone. "Tell your friend that she really shouldn't call people before the sun comes up, kay?" I nodded, taking the phone from her eagerly. I glanced at it, found the smaller part, and stuck it up to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked, listening for an answer behind the sound of two adults talking sleepily. Their voice sounded echo-ey, as if they were in a cave or something. "Cat?"

"_Oh, hi Robbie!"_ Cat giggled into the phone. _"I almost forgot I was on the phone!"_

I smiled. "I do that sometimes, too." I heard the voices again and asked, "Cat, are you in a cave?"

"_What?"_ Cat asked, sounding confused. _"Whaddya mean?"_

"You sound all echo-ey..."

She laughed. _"I'm in our attic. We didn't even know we had an attic! And guess what?"_

"What?" I asked.

"_It's gonna be my room when I'm older!"_

_An Attic? _"Cool, Cat. Is that why you called?"

"_Oh, no no no! But there is a reason!"_

I waited for her to continue, but when the line went silent for a long time, I began to wonder if the line broke, like Raquel said had happened to her and her boyfriend a couple days ago. I've seen the phone lines when I was in the car, and they look pretty hard to break, but I guess some people are stronger than I am. "Cat? What's the reason?"

"_The reason is that I found out that... The TALENT SHOW IS TOMORROW!" _She squealed into the phone. I cringed at the sound.

"The talent show? What's that?" I ask.

"_It's this show where we all go up on stage and sing or dance or do something cool and everyone claps for us and if we're really REALLY good we win and then I think we get a prize that they call the grand prize and we can have partners and I wanna partner with you and I was thinking we could sing a song isn't that so cool?"  
><em>"Wow, Cat!" I exclaim, half-confused half-flustered. "That was, um, a lot of words!"

"_I know! So I was thinking we could sing Mary had a Little Lamb, but I don't know anybody named Mary, do you? So, okay, I was thinking we could sing ROBBIE had a Little Lamb, and you could be Robbie, 'cause that's your name, and I'll be your little red lamby, and your mommy could make my costume, and I'll bring you a Bo Peep costume–"_

"Whoa whoa, Cat! Slow down!"I exclaimed. "So, you want me to sing with you in a talent show for school? To... Robbie had a Little Lamb?"

"_Mhmm! Wanna do it? We can practice after school!"_

"Okay. Yeah. See you after school!" I hung up to the sound of Cat mumbling _"Robbie had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb..."_

;*"*"*"*"*;

I told my mom about this, asking her if she can make Cat something out of a red sweater for a sheep fleece. Cat said she was bringing me some kind of Beep costume, so I decided to hold out for her.

After the school bell rings, Cat and I waited out in the playground for my mommy to pick us up. She finally arrived, and we hopped into our car-seats. "Buckle up!" my mom called out, turning the key in the car. Cat was talking all the way to my house.

"Okay, so my mommy is gonna get me some fluffy socks to wear when I'm your lamby, and she's gonna paint my nose black so I look like a sheep! And I've got my Halloween costume that I decided not to use this year, so I'll let you use it! I think it would fit you!"

"We're here!" Mommy exclaimed, trying to silence the zealous girl. Cat squeaked and jumped out of the van.

"Robbie, let's go to the backyard and practice!"

"O-okay!" I turned to Mommy, and she leaned down to kiss my cheek.

"Have fun, and be careful." I nodded and ran after Cat.

I stumbled along the rock path leading to the garden behind the house to find Cat on the other side, climbing our tree. _Crazy Cat. _"CAT!"

She didn't hear me, but I'm glad. It probably wouldn't be good to distract her then. Instead, I ran up to the tree and followed her up the slanted trunk.

"Hi Robbie!" Cat greeted me, suddenly at the top of the towering tree. "Coming up or what?"

I smiled at her, gritting my teeth slightly at the bark scratching my palms. When I reached up to her, she grabs my arm and gives it a yank, sending me jerking up toward her. I sat on a branch and looked at her. "We gonna practice now?"

She nodded vigorously and starts singing, softly at first. "Robbie had a little lamb... little lamb..."

"You're a singing sheep?" I sputtered awkwardly.

She giggled. "Yup! Come on! You sing too!" I nodded and she began again.

"Robbie had a little lamb..."

"Little lamb..." I continue.

"Little lamb!"

"I had a little lamb!" I sang out, a little louder.

Cat smiled. "Whose fleece was... um... Red as a red velvet cupcake?"

I nodded. "Okay. Whose fleece was red as a red velvet cupcake!"

We sang it again, louder, until we heard our voices echo in the neighborhood. I began to worry my mom would come out and tell us to hush, but we didn't see her. So we continued to sing until we felt we were ready for tomorrow. After all, it was a fairly simple song...

;*"*"*"*"*;

The next morning, Cat was at my doorstep, nose painted black, hair curling wildly around her face with a rose in it, smile spread from ear to ear. Raquel let her in while Mommy tied the "Beep" costume around my waist and fit the bonnet on my head. She turned to see Cat, then grabbed the red sweater and slung it over Cat's head. We grabbed some waffles, then headed out the door and into the car.

When we reached the school, Cat cried out, "Oh NO!"

Everyone jumped. "What is it, Kitty Cat?" Mommy asked urgently.

"I forgot my fluffy socks!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Here," Raquel reached into the glove compartment and pulled out some of her thermal socks. "take these."

"B-but these are white, and I'm red..."

"It's okay, Cat. We'll figure something out." I assured her. She looked at me, nodded, and smiled.

"Okay. I think I have an idea."

;*"*"*"*"*;

We were at lunch, sitting at the tables, when Ms. Lillien announces that the 1st grade talent show was about to begin. I was a little nervous, and looked to Cat to see if she was, too. But she just sat there, coloring her socks red with a crayon. And, it was actually working.

_Cat makes things work that shouldn't work._

"Announcing the first act: singing I'm a Little Teapot, let's all clap for Hayley Ferguson and Tara Ganz!"

My head and Cat's snapped up at that announcement. We looked at each other briefly, then turned to watch the two girls step up in front of everyone.

"I'm Hayley!" The brunette smiled, waving like a pageant girl. The blonde girl behind her tried to edge up next to her.

"And I'm Tara!" She waved as well, but Hayley nudged her aside.

The pianist began playing, and the song began.

"_I'm a little teapot, short and stout!" _Hayley sang, doing the motions in front of Tara.

"_Here is my handle!" _Hayley stuck her arm out, letting her hand droop, and waited for Tara to point to it before continuing, making them fall behind the music. _"And here is my spout!" _

She continued through the song, scowling at Tara whenever she tripped and trying to keep up with the piano. When they finally finished, Ms. Lillien clapped loudly, to make everyone else clap.

After a few more acts went by, lines forgotten, dance moves missed, it was our turn. "Next act: singing... _Robbie_ had a Little Lamb, Caterina Valentine and Robbie Shapiro!"

I grabbed Cat's hand and we skittered up to the stage, smiling nervously. Cat nodded at the pianist, and we got ready to sing. But not before everyone started laughing.

"LOOK AT HIS COSTUME!" Some boy shouted ruthlessly.

"He's a GIRL!" A girl with pigtails squealed.

"Look at her NOSE!" The snotty voice sounded unmistakably like Hayley.

"YEAH! And her SOCKS!" Tara laughed too-loudly, until Hayley covered her mouth.

"Shut UP!"

"I'm SORRY!"

"QUIET!" Ms. Lillien was obviously not too pleased. She turned to us, smiled, and nodded for us to begin.

Cat started, loudly as she could. _"ROB-BIE had a LITTLE LAMB!"_

She sounded really good! _Maybe I'll be that good too! _

"_Little lamb..." _I continued.

"_Little lamb!" _She sang, doing a funny kind of slide-trick with her voice. Everyone clapped at that.

I smiled at Cat, and we continued. _"I had a little lamb!"_

"_Whose fleece was red as a red-velvet cupcake!" _Cat squeaked, spinning around in her costume. When no one clapped yet, she shouted. "BUT NOT WITH BLOOD!"

Everyone laughed and started clapping. Well, everybody but Hayley and Tara. They appeared to already be plotting their revenge. 'Cause we just showed them up!

;*"*"*"*"*;

"Robbie, that was so _cool!_" Cat whispered in my ear as we waited for the judges to decide who won.  
>"You think we won?"<p>

"I hope so!" I nodded, hardly able to hold back a wide grin matching Cat's. That was really fun. "You were great up there!"

"You were _amazing_, Robbie!" Cat gushed, giggling. "We should be performers!"

"Maybe, when we're older." I nodded. "We could be performers together! We could be famous!"

She gasped. "Let's do it!" She grabbed my hand and shook it within hers. "Can we, Robbie? PLEASE? Will you promise that we'll do it when we're older?"

I considered it, then stuck out my pinky. "Pinky-promise?"

She wrapped her pinky in mine and shook it up and down. "Pinky-promise!"

When we heard Ms. Lillien quiet everyone down, we grabbed each other's hand and squeezed as hard as we could. "Attention, everyone! We have a winner!"

"Now, remember that everyone here is a winner today. I saw a lot of great talents today," Hayley and Tara were smirking at each other across the row of chairs, but we ignored them. "but we did find one that stuck out. We have three prizes; 3rd place, 2nd place, and 1st place ribbons. Let's announce the 2nd place, okay?"

The classes erupted into "okay"s.

"2nd place prize goes to Jadelyn West, for her lovely paper-doll making!" Everyone clapped for Jade, including Cat, who had become fond of Jade and was trying to befriend the scary-looking girl.

Jade trudges up to stage and accepts her ribbon. "Wherever did you get the idea to make paper-dolls, Jade?"

Jade glares up at Ms. Lillien. "I was making dolls of people I knew and cutting their heads off. I just never finished these." She held up the paper-dolls she had showed earlier. The teacher blinked at her in shock, laughed nervously, and cleared her throat.

"Okay then, Jade. Congratulations on 2nd place." She walks back to the center. "Now, it was close between two duos, and you might know who. But we had to decide between them, so we'll announce 1st place, and then 3rd."

"This is it, Robbie!" Cat whispered, clutching my hand tightly.

"And 1st place ribbon, along with a special grand prize, goes to..."

Hayley and Tara stand up, ready to claim their prize...

"Cat and Robbie, singing _Robbie had a Little Lamb_!"

Everyone clapped, Cat screamed happily, I shouted, Hayley pouted, Tara clapped, and Jade might've just cheered the loudest. Cat pulled me out of my chair and dragged me up to the stage, passing Jade on the way. She smiled slightly, nodding. "I'm glad you beat those brats!" she shouted over the loud applause.

We made our way to the stage, beaming brightly. We accepted our ribbons and a stuffed bunny, attached to a bunch of balloons that read "Congratulations!" across their fronts. I gave Cat the bunny, since boys weren't supposed to own such things, and her face only brightened more. She jumped over to me and kissed my cheek, causing the children to erupt into "Oooh"s. She jumped back to face the teacher and beamed at her. I was still in shock, rubbing my cheek with my finger in the place she had kissed me, half-startled and half-ecstatic.

That's often how Cat can leave you.

Half-startled and half-ecstatic.

;*"*"*"*"*;

_**Well? How was that? Glad I'm back from the dead, or should I go re-die?**_

_**Thank you for reviewing the previous chapter: **RogueLover321, RaptorIV, Ali Of District 3, CabbieForever, IrshGirl, Sshaw101, Jeremy Shane, Sweetie, Anon, Superstar1030, and Hannah. Love you all!_

_**Reviews are like the cheese in macaroni 'n' cheese. Without them, it just... doesn't work. Catching my drift?**_

_**Thanks,**_

_****~Songbird341~****_


	7. Sargocaphus

**The Day Cat and I Rode a Dinosaur**

_**Ello!**_

_**Here's the next chapter of Growing Up! I've been very busy updating my other story, Victorious Chat Room, but I haven't forgotten this story! Thanks for reviewing, and get ready for Cat and Robbie to ride a dinosaur!**_

_**P.S.**** If there's any mistakes, I'm sorry. A moth was attacking me and I was hunting it as I wrote.**_

_****~Songbird341~****_

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Cat, Robbie, or the dinosaur.**

;*"*"*"*"*;

"Alright, kids," Ms. Lillien called out, waving her hands to lead the children toward her. We all followed her to the entrance of the museum, murmuring and whispering. Well, all except for Cat.

"This is so _exciting_!" Cat squealed, clapping her small hands and shaking my arm. "We're gonna see a mummy and a dinosaur and a sargocophus, whatever that is!" She bounced around, skipping and giggling. I smiled at her and nodded.

"You think the mummy's gonna come to life?" I asked curiously, referring to the episode of Phillip and Fergus we had watched the night before. "And chase us around and shake our hand?"

Cat nodded. "Maybe he'll put on a hat and sing and dance, too!"

Hayley Ferguson snorted in front of us as she walked with her nose held high in the air. _Is she trying to smell something, like a dog does? _"That's Frosty the Snowman."

"Oh, right!" Cat giggles, playing with the ruffles on the fringe of her dress. Tara snorted, much like Hayley did only moments ago.

"Ditz."

Cat's head shot up. "What's that mean?"

I scowled when Hayley cackled. "It means you're stupid."

Cat frowned and turned to me. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

I made a face at the two obnoxious girls and shook my head to Cat. "Of course not, Cat. You're smarter than those two girls together!"

Cat's frown turned into a reassured smile and she giggled again, in the way only Cat can. "Thank you, Robbie!" She twirled her red ponytail around her finger. "So what are we gonna call the mummy?"

"MUMMY?" Some kid shrieked up in the front.

"WHAT MUMMY?" Another child cried.

Instantly, the whole group burst into shouts and loud noises, including a mere snicker between Hayley and Tara before doubling over in laughter. Cat looked at me nervously and grabbed my hand, cupping her lips with the other and whispering into my ear "Are we in trouble?" I shook my head and she exhaled, nodding and trusting me.

Ms. Lillien eventually managed to silence everyone. "Everybody, QUIET!" When she had everyone's attention, she continued. "There are NO live mummies, no mummies will COME to life, and we are PERFECTLY FINE!" Everyone stopped talking about the mummy immediately.

We walked into the museum and started the tour. It started off really boring, because it was only paintings and I don't like looking at paintings for hours and hours, but Cat did, apparently. She stared at one picture of a sunset for _forever_, but I stayed with her and looked at her incredulously. I never knew she liked art so much. Or sunsets.

"Cat, Robbie, stay with the group!"

"Cat, Robbie, we're moving on!"

"Cat, Robbie, come on with the rest of us!"

The pattern went on and on: Cat got sidetracked, I didn't want to leave her alone, Ms. Lillien told us to get moving. I was afraid we'd get in trouble, but I couldn't keep Cat on track and I couldn't leave her alone with all these _strangers!_

We progressed through the museum, looking at all the art. This sure was a big museum, but I had to wonder when we got through with the art.

;*"*"*"*"*;

"Alright, class. We're moving on into the next part of the museum, with more of the historical artifacts." Cat and I looked at each other in confusion, wondering what "historical artifacts" were, but we turned back to Ms. Lillien. "Stay _close_, don't touch anything, and if you need anything, just come ask me." She turned back forward, snapped her fingers, and pointed forward, signaling us to walk behind her. We all resumed talking.

"You like the paintings, Cat?" I asked her, ignoring glares from Hayley and Tara.

"Yeah! I liked the pretty skies!" Cat nodded. She looked around and asked, "What's a hysterical artifact?"

I was about to answer when Jade walked up. "_Historical _artifacts. It's just a bunch of old junk nobody wanted in the past, so they gave it to us." Jade jumped into step with Cat and me, suddenly a part of our group. I was uneasy, but Cat was fine with it.

"Then why do we have to look at it?" Cat wondered aloud. I shrugged and stepped closer to her.

We walked for a little ways before reaching the "artifacts". Cat stared in awe as we passed old golden jewelry, staffs, and even a gold cup. She jumped toward it, examining each piece. "Who would throw this stuff out?"

Jade smirked. "I would. Trash probably isn't worth _10 dollars! _Probably not even 11."

Cat nodded. "Yeah."

She watched Jade as she passed off every piece of "junk": worthless, fake, used, dented, scratched, ugly. Jade made everything seem less, but Cat still seemed to hang on her every word. _Well, if Cat thinks she's cool, then maybe she is._

We finally reached the "sarcophagus": a large, golden case, painted like a person with REALLY bad hair! Cat squeaked in excitement, running towards it. "Robbie, look it! It's a sargocaphus!"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Looks dumb."

Cat smiled up at her mysteriously. "Probably not from the _inside_."

I gaped at Cat. "Cat, that's probably not-"

"It'll be fun!" Before I could stop her, Cat ran under the velvet rope guarding the sarcophagus and reached it. She fumbled with the door, wrenched it open with her fingers, and giggled happily. She jumped in and pulled the door shut. _Oh, this is bad..._

I could hear her muffled voice shout out, "Look, guys! I'm a mummy!" Jade was laughing, and seemed to be the only other person noticing this. I looked around and waited desperately for Cat to come out. _We're gonna be in so much trouble..._

"Okay, guys. I can't get the door open!" Cat shouted suddenly, the sarcophagus shaking as if to prove her point. "Eep!" she yipped, banging on the door. "HELP! HELP, I'M STUCK!"

"Cat!" I shouted, looking around again and running up to the sarcophagus. Jade joined me, equally nervous. "Cat, can you hear me?"

"HELP ME OUT, ROBBIE! I'M SCARED!"

I turned to Jade. "We need Ms. Lillien!"

Jade scoffed. "And get her in serious trouble? No way!" She turned to the door and shouted. "Cat, listen to me carefully, okay?"

I eyed the group as it grew farther and farther away. Thankfully, no one was around at the time. Cat cried out, "OKAY!"

Jade nodded, biting her lip. "Okay! I'm gonna get you outta there, alright? I just need you to do a few things!"

"WHAT?"

She gritted her teeth. "I NEED YOU TO-"

"I HEARD YOU! WHAT DO I DO?" I winced when she whimpered, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die..."

"Cat! Do what I say!" Jade began. "First, cross your arms against your chest!"

"OKAY!"

"Okay, now lean as far to the RIGHT as you can, okay?"

"YOUR RIGHT OR MINE?"

"Yours!" Jade tapped her foot nervously. "Are you ready?

"YES!"

"Okay!" Jade positioned herself at the side of the sarcophagus, where the door met the back. Without warning or preparation, she lifted her foot and sent a _big_ kick into the side of the door. The door buckled under the pressure and flung open, almost flying off its hinges. I stared at Jade in awe, and she smirked cockily.

Cat fell out, stumbling toward me. Faint tear-tracks marred her cheeks, but otherwise, she was fine. "I was so scared! I thought I was gonna die and get wrapped up in toilet paper and become a mummy!"

"It's alright, but we need to get back to the group or we're in huge trouble." Jade grabbed Cat's wrist, and Cat grabbed mine, linking us together as we ran back to the group and pretended we'd never left.

;*"*"*"*"*;

Cat, Jade and I had managed to slip in unnoticed, but Cat still couldn't withhold her curiosity, the sarcophagus event obviously leaving her unfazed. She touched everything she could, stared at everything as if it would start tap dancing before her very eyes, and talked. A lot.

Still, she made the tour more interesting. Especially when we made it to the dinosaur exhibit.

She stared at the giant t-rex for _much _longer than she should've, babbling on. "Look at how big it is! I bet it could eat a whole elephant and still be hungry! Don't you think, Robbie?"

I nodded, gazing up at the large thing. "It is pretty huge."

"I'm gonna climb it."

We both turned to Jade and gaped at her. "You're gonna _what_?"

"I'm gonna climb it," she repeated bluntly.

Cat's mouth fell open. "That would be so fun."

"No," Jade began, grabbing Cat's wrist and mine. "It _will_ be so fun, because we're doing it."

"_Why?_" I asked. _Are they crazy?_

"Because I've always wanted to," Jade continued, pulling us over the metal railing. "and we'll always remember this! So don't be such a wuss!"

Cat grew defensive. "Robbie's not a wuss!" She turned to me and smiled. "Let's do it, Robbie!"

Robbie stared at her, then slowly nodded. "Okay. _But only quick_!"

Cat clapped and giggled, following Jade.

We found the base of the exhibit, staring up at the bones. Jade lead the way, grabbing the lower bones and lifting herself up. "Just like monkey bars," Jade said plainly. "Come on, before we get caught."

Cat went up next, grabbing the bones the same way Jade had. She shook at first, but mumbled, "Monkey bars, monkey bars..." and pushed upward. I followed her, staying close behind.

We slowly scaled the large bones, some shakier than the others. With every swing upward, I doubted their reasoning on this, but it was pretty cool, I guess.

"We're at the top, Robbie!" Cat exclaimed. "Look!"

I climbed up until I was level with Cat, and looked around at the large museum. _We are on top! _"Wow!"

We drank it in, examining everything, waving at unexpecting people on the ground and laughing. We laughed and scared people and talked to the dinosaur, and were having the time of our lives...

Until Ms. Lillien showed up.

;*"*"*"*"*;

_**Oooh! Busted!**_

_**But how cool was that?**_

_**They had a lot more fun than Hayley and Tara did, dare I say? Sorry the ending was a little rushed, but I had to get off the computer!**_

_**Thanks for reviewing: **FurryFriends143, Five Pies To The Face (nice name, btw), CrazyWierdGirl, Sshaw101, Binnie-Bunny, Guest and Jeremy Shane! You guys make little Cat and Robbie smile, even though you're stalking their childhood, kinda. But that's okay; so am I :)_

_**Please don't forget to review, and thanks for reading!**_

_****~Songbird341~****_


	8. NOTICE

****NOTICE****

* * *

><p>This story and this account has been abandoned.<p>

I honestly couldn't write anymore Victorious fiction. I've lost all inspiration for the show. I'm now writing other fanfiction on my new account, _**TheSongbird341. **_I did this to have a clean slate and a fresh start, but am keeping this account open but inactive because I'd like to look back at it someday. My new account will be where you can contact me, and I will **not **be finishing any of my current stories. Hate to say it, but I'm no more on this Victorious stuff.

My Twitter account is still active, so check out at-TheSongbird341 for updates on my _new_ stories!

Sorry, I hate to disappoint. I hope you'll accept my new account and stories. My new fanfiction will mostly be for: **White Collar, Once Upon a Time, Star Wars, Psych, **and maybe **Wreck-It Ralph, **just because I adore the movie. That should span across the age groups, hopefully.

Well, this is it. Goodbye Victorious peeps! I'm off to bigger and better things. I hope you'll join me :)

Farewell,

**_*** *-Songbird341-* ***_**


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